Pet Peeve: You Sound Funny!

Why not?

I don't know...maybe because she's from the US and not a Spanish-speaking country?

Ugh, I work in a bank so I am talking to customers all day long (most quite elderly).  Some days it seems like no one can understand me!  Like yesterday, I asked a gentleman how he wanted his cash 3 different ways and then said £20 or £10 notes?  He replied with "Yes" so I just gave up.  Then I had another customer ask me if I was Polish because he couldn't understand me and when I told him I was from the states he goes,"Habla espanol?", yeah, not amused with that one.  I have a Minnesotan accent, but I am still speaking ENGLISH! I don't know if its just gotten stronger since we visited the states or what, but apparently I sound particularly foreign lately.

I worked at a bank for a little over 6 months and that's where I REALLY started to sound British and pick up Britishisms. Like you, our client base was mainly the elderly so I had to quickly adapt to talk like them so they could understand me.

Has anyone noticed that the Brits say bye 3 or 4 times in a higher pitched voice? It makes me laugh so much, like, 'Byye, bye! Bye! Byye!'  Maybe it's a regional thing? Does get on my nerves a bit though, I feel like I'm singing a song.

OMG my husband does this but I thought he was just weird. He's from Lymington.

I don't know...maybe because she's from the US and not a Spanish-speaking country?

But the US is in many ways a "Spanish speaking country" nowadays. And plenty to be proud of in that. Or not if you're that way inclined, I suppose.

Why not?

Because I was not speaking a foreign language.

And I know what you're getting at Tremula, but this customer was being downright rude, that's what bothered me.  Not US immigration politics.

I file the Spanish comment under "old guy trying to be cheeky". In the past an older male was of great value....wisdom, power and such. Supply was short. Today you can't throw a cat without hitting an old dude.

So what do they do? Give the staff a hard time. 

LOLOL

  And, "cafe" was pronounced "calf".  I keep saying to him, "If you notice, there is an accent mark over that letter "e", darling, so you should be pronouncing it "cafay".   He'll argue until the cows come home, but the other night on TV, a British news journalist said the word exactly like I do. LOL  I just smugly smiled at hubby. 

Yes it's pronounced "cafay", but it's a shortening of the word to say "caff", not a different pronunciation.

  I have a Minnesotan accent, but I am still speaking ENGLISH! I don't know if its just gotten stronger since we visited the states or what, but apparently I sound particularly foreign lately.

I've noticed that Minnesotans and Canadians right up above you sound very similar.  It is a different accent to some people. Until I had travelled to Minnesota, I had never heard that type of accent before. Then I had a Canadian friend up in Saskatchewan who sounded very similar.

I file the Spanish comment under "old guy trying to be cheeky". In the past an older male was of great value....wisdom, power and such. Supply was short. Today you can't throw a cat without hitting an old dude.

So what do they do? Give the staff a hard time. 

Yeah, I don't think that the old dude was complementing American multiculturalism.


I don't mind people commenting on my accent.  I hate it when they mimic it and sound like Annie Oakley or John Wayne.  FFS, I am a Yankee.

Yes it's pronounced "cafay", but it's a shortening of the word to say "caff", not a different pronunciation.

Well, apparently my husband doesn't know that, because he insists this is the only way to say the word. lol

I say "caff" for little British diners or cafeterias.  Not as a substitute for "cafay" which I sort of reserve for something different.  I think Mr A does the same thing.

  I am just happy that "schedule" is pronounced the American way, instead of the English way in my area of Scotland.  Shed-yule drives me bonkers!

Oh my gosh, me, too!!! Hearing "shedyule" all the time sounds like someone is drunk and slurring the word. LOLOL

I hate it when they mimic it and sound like Annie Oakley or John Wayne.  FFS, I am a Yankee.

LOL! I've always told my husband that very few Brits can mimick a yankee accent. They tend to sound like Texans when they try. It does make me giggle, though. 

Oh my gosh, me, too!!! Hearing "shedyule" all the time sounds like someone is drunk and slurring the word. LOLOL

ha ha....DW brings that one up with me!

I say "caff" for little British diners or cafeterias.  Not as a substitute for "cafay" which I sort of reserve for something different.  I think Mr A does the same thing.

That's probably more the usage - as in a greasy spoon caff